Ok ... I have done a Swami test and am an Explorer. The diet suggests I eat 6 cups of veggies a day and 3 cups of fruit.

I can handle eating 3 cups of fruit (although I'm a bit worried that it will be too much as I have an issue with sugar cravings and overeating) but 6 cups of veggies? That sounds like a lot!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get that much vegetable into a day, please? I know spinach reduces considerably when it's cooked, so that's a start (it's diamond for me). Any simple recipe ideas would be most welcome, too. Thank you

Ok ... I have done a Swami test and am an Explorer. The diet suggests I eat 6 cups of veggies a day and 3 cups of fruit.

I can handle eating 3 cups of fruit (although I'm a bit worried that it will be too much as I have an issue with sugar cravings and overeating) but 6 cups of veggies? That sounds like a lot!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get that much vegetable into a day, please? I know spinach reduces considerably when it's cooked, so that's a start (it's diamond for me). Any simple recipe ideas would be most welcome, too. Thank you

Rachie, it's do-able to eat 6 cups of vegetables per day because I'm doing it.

First of all, measure your spinach raw...not cooked. Six cups of cooked spinach would be a LOTof spinach leaves.

Secondly is to eat a huge variety of different vegetables. I don't know what your veggie optionsare, but I generally don't really like vegetables....I never ate a lot of them until I figured out howto cook them so I'd enjoy them.

Of course you could always have a salad....or

You can add vegetables to an omelette for breakfast....mushrooms, onions, spinach. You mightwant to sautee the vegetables first and then add your eggs. But that could easily be a cup ormore of vegetables.

I love roasting vegetables. There are so many different vegetables that roast well. I like touse carrots, parsnips, beets, onions, mushrooms, asparagus, brussels sprouts, squash (bothwinter and summer varieties). I rinse then chunk up raw vegetables, put them in a bowl with water and a little sea salt. This does two things. Well actually 3. It lightly salts the vegetables, it imparts just enough water when you drain out the water so the vegetables don't dry up when roasting and the salt cleanses the vegetables of impurities. Read about that here: http://www.ehow.com/how_5471922_soak-salt-water-remove-pesticides.html

So when roasting, I tend to divide the watery vegetables from the less watery ones as roastingsomething like mushrooms with beets is going to make a mess in the pan...

I use cookie sheets or any flat baking pan....a pan with shallow sides works well too...I coat thepan with EVOO or any compliant oil and drizzle additional oil on my rinsed and drained vegetables by putting them in a large bowl...using a wooden spoon to keep tossing the veggiesaround until they're all lightly coated.

350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes depending on your oven would enable most root vegetables to get cooked through...I sometimes cover the pan with aluminum foil and lower thecooking temperature because in all reality, you don't want to brown your vegetables, merelylightly roast them....getting them fully cooked. You can use herbs to season....I generallymix those in with the oil while I'm tossing them around..

Just remembering that I also roast garlic cloves....I take the whole bulb and cut it in half...drizzleboth sides of the bulb with EVOO and a little sea salt, put the two sides back together andwrap with aluminum foil....and throw into the oven. What you wind up with is roasted garliccloves that can be squeezed out of the bulb and smeared on anything you like...

Roasting turnips or rutabagas works well....cut into chunks first....I like to bake butternutor acorn squash by cutting in half, taking out seeds, filling well with water, a little ghee and a drizzle of honey or agave....Put into a baking pan with a little water on the bottom....covering thesquash about 1/2 way up...and cover the pan with foil...or a lid....and the result is delicious...because the squash is steamed and soft and can be mashed with a fork if you like.

I roast string beans, chunks of red peppers, cauliflower, broccoli stalks, leeks, bok choy, fennel (cut in 1/4s). I can't have tomatoes but you could easily roast a pan of cherry tomatoes or any variety you like.

There are endless ways to prepare vegetables...You could make vegetable soup....a tomato base,beef base, poultry base -- whatever stock you're allowed to have...You could throw in meatbones, or meat or add beans along with it. Make a full meal...

I hope this is simple enough. As far as a specific recipe goes, what could be easier than throwingoiled, seasoned veggies in a pan, set the oven at 350 and wait until they're done...I check oftenwhen I'm doing this with more watery veggies and they're going to be done far sooner than root veggies. And I want to be careful that I'm not really browning as doing so isn't veryhealthy.

Hoping you find it easier to eat your 6 cups of vegetables. I eat a big bowlful for lunch....makea few trays in advance...put in individual containers and refrigerate. When the time comes toeat them, I just portion out what I want....put it in a baking dish and re-heat in my oven at300 until warm. YUM The way you season your vegetables makes a big difference...Thinkof all your compliant herbs and spices...try new flavors....Italian spices, cajun....Indian....somany options. Enjoy!!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.....they know how to make the best of everything!"

I hadn't really thought of roasting veggies and seasoning them with salt, herbs and spices. I've only ever roasted potatoes (which are avoid), carrots and parsnips before, but it looks like most veggies can be roasted!

Tomatoes are avoid for me too. My old staple was tomato based dishes - I used to make lots of bolognese and chilli and I used to try to add extra vegetables into those, such as red peppers, onions, garlic etc, but they are out of the question now Still ... all those roast veggies look yummy

You can puree roasted and/or boiled vegetables for a thick sauce that's somewhat similar to tomato sauce. The taste won't be exactly the same, of course, but it will have a similar mouth feel and be as filling. Or just add canned pumpkin to chili in place of tomato paste.

Three cups seems like a lot of fruit (i get two serves but a serve equals only half a cup!) You can change the portions and frequency to small. I get five serves of veggies & one serve equals one whole cup with "smaller portions".

Does anyone have a good way to cook frozen, organic snap beans? Can they be roasted? My mother used to put home canned beans in her pressure cooker, bring the pressure up a bit and then immediately cool the cooker enough to open the lid. She called that "removing the canned taste." They were delicious. But these frozen things have me stumped. Anyone?

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -- Benjamin Franklin

Does anyone have a good way to cook frozen, organic snap beans? Can they be roasted? My mother used to put home canned beans in her pressure cooker, bring the pressure up a bit and then immediately cool the cooker enough to open the lid. She called that "removing the canned taste." They were delicious. But these frozen things have me stumped. Anyone?

I don't know what they are by that name. Are you referring to string beans?

Do they look like this? Because these photos to me are string beans....and I googled "image ofsnap beans".

If you agree that these photos are snap beans, then I would saute some chopped garlic in EVOO,throw the frozen beans in the pan after the garlic is lightly golden...put a lid on the pan...put theheat to low....let them get cooked....two or three minutes...turn off the heat, leave the lid on and5 minutes later, they should be ready to eat.

With beans that look like images on link, I also coat in EVOO, after salt water process as described in my long post and roast them...in the oven....maybe 20 minutes.

Sometimes it's a regional thing...We call a vegetable one thing and people in other parts of thecountry have different names for the same food.

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.....they know how to make the best of everything!"

Three cups seems like a lot of fruit (i get two serves but a serve equals only half a cup!) You can change the portions and frequency to small. I get five serves of veggies & one serve equals one whole cup with "smaller portions".

After 16 months of SWAMI, I cut my portions down on my own because I could not possibly consume all of the food allowed. I have 2 instead of 3 fruit. Four cups of veggies works well for me as well. I do eat a bit of grain daily but not the 3 cups I'm allowed and of course my meat/poulty/fish portions. I choose Mondays to eat lightly to give my liver a break and that works fine for me. This Explorer liver needs this break to be happy...I'll have more fruit and veggies that day. Sticking to the 6 Tbs. of oil per week and 1 tsp of ghee 5x weekly helps also. Sometimes if I'm feeling peckish, 1 tbs. of flax oil fixes me up. See what works for you. I've been making lots of minestrone soup lately with gluten free turkey sausages, soaked adzuki beans (good for the liver) and brown rice pasta with loads of veggies. I make two stocks most weeks, one for the turkey soup in which I add bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, sage and one for fish in which I add bay leaves, lemon grass powder and dill. For the fish, I add the cod on a meal to meal basis. It's enough soup for 6 days worth of dinners. If it seems for some reason we are not able to eat it fast enough, get to freeze i. I find soups to be soothing, protein sparing and filling. Always nice to meet another explorer on the boards. I have several friends who have typed as explorers!

in EVOO,throw the frozen beans in the pan after the garlic is lightly golden...put a lid on the pan...put the heat to low....let them get cooked....two or three minutes...turn off the heat, leave the lid on and5 minutes later, they should be ready to eat.

With beans that look like images on link, I also coat in EVOO, after salt water process as described in my long post and roast them...in the oven....maybe 20 minutes.

If you agree that these photos are snap beans, then I would saute some chopped garlic in EVOO, throw the frozen beans in the pan after the garlic is lightly golden...put a lid on the pan...put theheat to low....let them get cooked....two or three minutes...turn off the heat, leave the lid on and 5 minutes later, they should be ready to eat.

With beans that look like images on link, I also coat in EVOO, after salt water process as described in my long post and roast them...in the oven....maybe 20 minutes.

Some snap beans don't have strings! Yes, green beans, string beans, snap beans, etc., are all the same in my book. I like the idea of soaking them in salt water and roasting. The mistake I made was not soaking them. But I'm wondering if that works for frozen beans? They get so limp with the first hint of heat. Yes, I like garlic in beans, and I use a little savory too. My DDIL just loves it when I load them up with turmeric too. But that is when I'm doing fresh beans. The only way it seems appetizing to eat frozen beans at this point is to eat them only slightly thawed and raw! I can't stand mushy beans!!

Okay, I just took some beans out of the freezer, ran some water over them to give them a good wetting, added macadamia oil, savory, garlic, turmeric and sea salt and stirred well. I roasted them, still frozen, in my convection oven at 350 for about 12 minutes. I am eating them now, and they have a delicious taste but the texture is not the best. The "skin" is more on the tough side but not dried out inside the bean. I wonder if I misted them with water about half way through if that would help.... I will say this: they are very good for a snack! Yum!

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -- Benjamin Franklin

one of my favourite EX meals was boiled green beans, mixed in with cut up bits of fatty bacon. beans and bacon. other people I know in Spain cook the bacon with broad beans instead and relish them. - I hate broad beans and they are, thankfull, an avoid for me.

problem is of course that I no longer eat bacon. perhaps there is another meat the can replace the bacon?

@Cloe - I try and aviod aluminium foil. Perhaps roast the garlic in paper or maybe without anything, if it has enough oil on it.

Thanks PC...Didn't think of that...I don't like foil either but baking pans need covering....parchment paper... I have it...thanks for bringing up the subject. I bake in glass dishes...am careful about containers.. just wish my pans for the oven had their own lids.

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.....they know how to make the best of everything!"

Some snap beans don't have strings! Yes, green beans, string beans, snap beans, etc., are all the same in my book. I like the idea of soaking them in salt water and roasting. The mistake I made was not soaking them. But I'm wondering if that works for frozen beans? They get so limp with the first hint of heat. Yes, I like garlic in beans, and I use a little savory too. My DDIL just loves it when I load them up with turmeric too. But that is when I'm doing fresh beans. The only way it seems appetizing to eat frozen beans at this point is to eat them only slightly thawed and raw! I can't stand mushy beans!!

Okay, I just took some beans out of the freezer, ran some water over them to give them a good wetting, added macadamia oil, savory, garlic, turmeric and sea salt and stirred well. I roasted them, still frozen, in my convection oven at 350 for about 12 minutes. I am eating them now, and they have a delicious taste but the texture is not the best. The "skin" is more on the tough side but not dried out inside the bean. I wonder if I misted them with water about half way through if that would help.... I will say this: they are very good for a snack! Yum!

Isn't convection baking a bit drying? I have put frozen beans in a pan after I sauteed garlicand they came out fine...Maybe totally defrost them first next time...They could be water loggedin the inside and perhaps let them sit on a paper towel to dry up a bit...because when I start with rawveggies, although I've soaked them, I do drain off the water and leave them "damp"....not really wet.,,sothe oil sticks to them well.

What might have happened is that outside got done first while inside was still frozen...Trythawing...Glad they tasted good!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.....they know how to make the best of everything!"

Ruthiegirl - I made a lamb stew the other day with sweet potato and because I cooked it for longer than I should have, the sweet potato disintegrated, which made the stock lovely, thick and tasty, so a happy mistake. It made me think of your suggestion of puree-ing veggies.

Dianne - thanks for sharing with me how you manage your portion sizes on a daily basis. Good that you've found something that works for you.

And Eric - 6 cups of veggies = 1lb? That's useful to know, thanks.

I'm not doing too well to be honest. Despite some initial enthusiasm at the beginning of the new year to get my diet sorted out, I'm now feeling low and when I feel low, my diet is the first thing to suffer.

Thank you, all, for your suggestions. I'm not doing too well to be honest. Despite some initial enthusiasm at the beginning of the new year to get my diet sorted out, I'm now feeling low and when I feel low, my diet is the first thing to suffer.

Be gentle and patient with yourself. The main thing is when we feel a bit stronger, pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep on going. One change at a time is good also and by the time you know it, many changes will converge together!

Just take it one day at a time. Eat lots of veggies and protein, and don't worry if you still find yourself reaching for candy later. Set small goals and pat yourself on the back when you achieve them.

In fact I'm rather pleased with myself this evening. As I said earlier, I was feeling low and as I was going to be alone for dinner, I didn't feel I could be bothered to prepare something, so planned on having crunchy nut cornflakes and milk to eat. I'd already had cheese on toast for lunch today and sometimes I argue to myself that if I've eaten badly already today I may as well carry on eating badly.

Well, I felt supported here and it gave me the strength to decide to prepare a proper meal, so I've had 2 lamb loin chops, steamed kale and carrots, a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkle of sea salt on the veggies (about 2.5 cups veggies) - ALL DIAMOND FOODS! And I feel completely satisfied.

Kale chips....There are many ways to do this but I've experimented and figured out that the goal isto dry them, not really bake them because the leaves easily burn.

I take a whole bunch of kale, rinse it, chop it into about 2" pieces, removing the hard center stem fromeach piece...then putting all the pieces on a kitchen towel to dry...I then put the pieces on a cookie sheet,drizzle with EVØØ and sea salt....and use my hands to toss the pieces around so they're lightly coatedwith oil. You don't want to saturate the leaves with oil....just lightly coat. I preheat my oven to 350...and when it's reached that temperature, I turn off the oven and then put in my pan of kale....After about8 minutes, I get a pair of tongs, and flip the kale pieces over....Make sure when putting kale on pannot to overlap the pieces or they won't dry out. I find all the kale completely dry and crunchy in about15 minutes....and that's it......I transfer to a container and refrigerate..(if there's anything left TO refrigerate -- I usually wind up eating most of it right out of the oven).

There are recipes that say to heat oven to 450....bake for a few minutes, turning the kale pieces, buteven though I've tried that...tried lowering the heat.....the pieces of kale wind up getting too browned.

Another way to do this is to just heat the oven to 200 and slowly let the kale pieces dry out....flipping them a few times until fully dried.

Good job,Rachie! Sounds like you're doing really well!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything.....they know how to make the best of everything!"

Thanks for those two great suggestions, Chloe! I've never been a great fan of kale but I have a friend who's made those kale chips things and she said they're really yummy. And I'm curious about the smoothie. Do you just whizz up raw kale with the other ingredients? Thanks

In fact I'm rather pleased with myself this evening. As I said earlier, I was feeling low and as I was going to be alone for dinner, I didn't feel I could be bothered to prepare something, so planned on having crunchy nut cornflakes and milk to eat. I'd already had cheese on toast for lunch today and sometimes I argue to myself that if I've eaten badly already today I may as well carry on eating badly.

Well, I felt supported here and it gave me the strength to decide to prepare a proper meal, so I've had 2 lamb loin chops, steamed kale and carrots, a drizzle of EVOO and a sprinkle of sea salt on the veggies (about 2.5 cups veggies) - ALL DIAMOND FOODS! And I feel completely satisfied.

Good job, Rachie! You'll gradually get to the point where you remember so clearly the difference in how you feel with Diamond/Superfoods that you won't struggle to make the best choices. It is a way of expressing love to ourselves.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.~Mary Jean Irion

Good job, Rachie! You'll gradually get to the point where you remember so clearly the difference in how you feel with Diamond/Superfoods that you won't struggle to make the best choices. It is a way of expressing love to ourselves.

Amen to that!

"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." -- Benjamin Franklin